Bully-Be-Gone by Brian Tacang Read Free Book Online

detail as she recounted her run-in with the bullies. Her vivid description of Nina’s foot on her car had them spellbound. Then she went into the incident with Tonisha, lingering on every aspect for dramatic effect. When she finished, the brick room was as silent as a tomb.
    Juanita petted her violin. Pollywog Jones had kidnapped it once and had placed a ransom note in her locker demanding she do his homework for a whole week in exchange for it. Pollock scowled. Nina “the Knuckle” Kwaikowski had once punched a clay sculpture he’d prepared for a city-wide youth art show.
    â€œSo?” asked Roderick, his voice echoing. “What’s so new about that?” Millicent could tell by his shaky tone that Roderick was trying to appear cool and unmoved. He, of all the Wunderkinder, was most acquainted with the bullies’ ways, having once been pushed into the Winifred T. Langley Memorial Fountain by all three of them.
    Millicent squinted at Roderick, inhaled deeply, then turned her attention to the other Wunderkinder. “I have invented a new product to keep bullies away: Bully-Be-Gone.”
    At this point it was hard for Millicent to know who to listen to because they all began jabbering at the same time.
    â€œOh, no.”
    â€œI can’t believe this—”
    â€œNot me—”
    â€œYou try it.”
    â€œNo way.”
    â€œNever again.”
    Millicent raised her voice above the others’. “Excuse me,” she said.
    They chattered on. Except Tonisha, who watched quietly.
    â€œExcuse me,” she yelled, then lowered her voice because they were, after all, in a library. “Need I remind you that—despite the excess saliva it produced—you thrilled at my Ever-Juicy Gum Enhancer pellet? You were awestruck at the effectiveness of the I’ve-Got-Rhythm Boogie Belt—which reminds me, Leon, I still owe you a refund for that unfortunate punch table incident at the spring dance. And, though I’ve yet to work out the kinks in the flavored ink and paper, you were all duly impressed with Fax-A-Snack.” She stopped and stared them down. “This invention is my most potent of all.”
    Tonisha forced a smile. The remaining Wunderkinder were quiet, their eyes ablaze with distrust—an ominous effect further enhanced by the dancing candlelight.

Five
    A fter Millicent left for the Wunderkind meeting, Uncle Phineas tidied the kitchen, with the help of the Robotic Chef, who’d started scraping the leftovers into Madame Curie’s food dish. The Robotic Chef missed the dish completely, dumping the meager leftovers on the floor.
    â€œDish? Floor? Yes. Makes no difference to you, does it?” Uncle Phineas asked the cat, who’d already gobbled her meal. “You made quick work of that. And I must make quick work of repairing these trousers.”
    He turned around to show the cat the deflated chair hanging off his pants. Madame Curie batted at it as if itwere a toy. Uncle Phineas laughed and then went upstairs to his bedroom to change, the cat following him, dodging and attacking his chair pants.
    Uncle Phineas changed, shaved, and applied his favorite cologne. He sprayed a cloud of it, walked through the mist, then spritzed some under his armpits and behind his ears. Named Strong Like Bull, the cologne claimed to make one man smell like ten men. He had bought ten cases of Strong Like Bull many years ago when he’d heard the manufacturer would be discontinuing it. His stash of the fragrance had soured over time, yet even now he wore it because it had been his wife’s favorite scent. “My big, strong inventor,” she used to say to him, so close her breath fogged his glasses.
    â€œJust for you, my dear,” he said to a photo of Aunt Felicity he kept in the bathroom. “Wherever you are.” He kissed his fingertip and pressed it against her picture on her helmet.
    Millicent’s aunt Felicity had been a human